McKenzie (file photo)
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
September 17, 2021
U.S. General Kenneth McKenzie says a deadly drone attack by U.S. military outside Kabul airport in the last days of the U.S. evacuation “was a mistake” and apologized for the loss of innocent lives.
McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, said the attack killed as many as 10 civilians, including seven children, not extremists as the military said in assessing the attack shortly after it occurred on August 29.
“It was a mistake and I offer my sincere apology,” McKenzie said at a briefing on September 17.
He added that he now believes that it unlikely that the vehicle hit by the drone strike or those who died were Islamic State militants or posed a direct threat to U.S. forces at Kabul’s airport.
The military believed it had accurate information that the car that was hit posed an imminent threat. He noted that the attack was carried out amid threats from Islamic State and three days after a suicide bombing killed 13 U.S. soldiers and more than 170 Afghans outside an airport gate.
Investigative reports by The Washington Post and The New York Times in recent days quoted explosives experts who refuted the military’s claims that the drone strike hit a car that was laden with explosives.
McKenzie said the Pentagon is considering reparations for the families of the people killed and is in consultations on how to proceed with that.